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A WEALTHY financier once engaged to marry President George W. Bush's former sister-in-law is suing her for the return of an 11-carat diamond engagement ring that he says is worth US$434,000 (S$615,000).
Mr Gerald Tsai, 78, says in his lawsuit that after he and Ms Sharon Bush, 55, agreed to marry in October 2006, he bought her the rectangular yellow diamond ring from Saks Fifth Avenue for US$243,000.
He says it is now worth much more, adding that he and Ms Bush agreed she would return the ring if they decided not to marry.
The engagement was called off on Jan 23, Mr Tsai's papers say. He asked for the ring back, but Ms Bush, formerly married to the President's younger brother Neil Bush, has refused to return it.
The millionaire's lawsuit, filed on Monday in Manhattan's state Supreme Court, asks for the ring's 'fair and reasonable replacement value' of US$434,000.
Ms Bush's lawyer, Mr David Berg, said on Tuesday that he had no comment.
Mr Tsai and Ms Bush each have homes on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
Ms Bush and Mr Neil Bush, 53, divorced in April 2003 after 23 years of marriage.
Mr Tsai, born in Shanghai, China, began his investment career in 1951 as a security analyst at Bache & Co.
Since then he has bought, sold and run several companies. He is a director at Apollo Investment Corp in New York.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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